What are the consequences of predatory journals?

Publishing in predatory journals can have serious consequences, including damage to a researcher's reputation and credibility. The lack of rigorous peer review and quality control can lead to the dissemination of flawed or fraudulent research, undermining the integrity of scientific knowledge.

What are the effects of predatory journals?

Because predatory publishers are low quality journals, they can spread inaccurate or false information about a topic. This is especially common among STEM field, especially the sciences. Other researchers may cite these works, further spreading false information (Elmore and Weston, 2020).

What happens if you submit to a predatory journal?

Predatory journals use tactics that sway unsuspecting researchers, who are often under pressure to publish papers in high numbers. Publishing an article in a predatory journal affects your reputation as a researcher, and is a waste of your time and effort.

What to do after publishing in a predatory journal?

If your paper is published online by a predatory journal, you may write to the office of the predatory journal and ask them to withdraw the paper from their website. Although you are not guaranteed to get a response from a predatory journal, their paper might be taken down from the website.

What is a potential consequence of publishing articles in fake hijacked predatory journals?

Publishing in a predatory journal or a hijacked journal can sully the reputation of academics. Even if they had good intentions, it could make other researchers wonder if they just wanted to increase their publication list.

The Problem of Predatory Journals

Why do people publish in predatory journals?

There are a variety of reasons authors may publish in a predatory journal: A mistake - they thought it was a legitimate journal. Need to publish something immediately (often for publish/perish reasons) - either because they already have other legitimate publications or because of a deadline.

What are the ethical issues in publishing in predatory journals?

Ethical Issues with Predatory Journals

Predatory journals lack the editorial and publishing standards such as publishing corrections and retraction, process to deal with plagiarized content, ensuring ethics of research study, and dealing with conflict of interest.

How can you tell if a publisher is predatory?

How do I withdraw a paper from predatory journal?

Here are the steps on how to withdraw an accepted paper from a predatory journal: Send an email to the journal editor requesting the withdrawal of your paper. Be sure to explain why you are withdrawing your paper, such as concerns about the journal's predatory nature.

What are the most common complaints of predatory publications?

What are at least three signs that a journal is predatory?

Are all paid journals predatory?

No, there are other types. For example, predatory journals may steal intellectual property through deception, engage in fraudulent or fake peer review, or list respected researchers on its editorial board without their knowledge or consent.

Who are the victims of predatory journals?

First-time authors are particularly vulnerable because they may be unaware of these journals, but experienced authors have been victims as well. Here's what you need to know about predatory journals and how to protect yourself.

Is Frontiers a predatory journal?

All Frontiers journals are published under a Creative Commons Attribution License. In 2015, Frontiers Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall. Based on a series of information published here, we decided to include the Frontiers Media journals on the predatory publications list.

Are predatory journals illegal?

Although predatory publishing is exploitative and unethical, if the publisher is engaging in illegal behavior needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. If and which journal is predatory is sometimes disputable and the best thing you can do is just not engage with a journal if you think it is predatory.

Is PLoS predatory?

No, PLoS One is definitely NOT a predatory journal. It is different from other academic journals, in that the explicit goal is for submissions to be reviewed for rigor rather than for impact or citability.

Why are predatory journals bad?

Articles accepted by predatory publishers are considered to be “previously published,” and as such, legitimate publishers may not be able to accept them for publication in one of their journals. Predatory journals are generally ignored or not indexed into academic databases, decreasing readership and impact.

How do you know if an article is a predatory journal?

Salient features of potential predatory biomed journals

The website contains spelling and grammar errors. Images are distorted/fuzzy, intended to look like something they are not, or which are unauthorized. The homepage language targets authors. The Index Copernicus Value is promoted on the website.

How are predatory journals harmful to readers?

Predatory journal: Copy the open access publishing model by levying APCs on authors, but do not deliver high‐quality, peer reviewed articles (and other services) and do not ensure the scientific quality of submitted articles. Therefore, they are fooling the scientific system as well as members of the readership.

Can a publisher steal my manuscript?

Firstly, reputable publishers and agents are not in the business of 'stealing' work. They are inundated with plenty of writers with plenty of ideas and if yours has potential then rest assured the agent or publisher will be interested in you and your work.

Are Elsevier journals predatory?

The fact that Elsevier fits the consensus definition of a “predatory publisher” so well is thus only one of many reasons why data kraken Elsevier is so reviled in the academic community, but a reminder of it seems to have triggered the “we really can be trusted, honestly, this time” wolf-in-sheep-clothing-reflex in the ...

Can you sue a publishing company?

In those cases where the publisher's publication created a foreseeable risk of harm the courts have generally found the publisher breached its duty of care to the plaintiff and have found the publisher liable; an example is the Soldier of Fortune case.

Should you cite predatory journals?

They recommend avoiding citations from the predatory journals as by citing articles from these journals; authors share information that may not be credible and validated for use by other researchers and clinicians. Dadkhah et al. labeled papers published in predatory and hijacked journals as questionable [3].

Are predatory journals peer reviewed?

Predatory Publishers: Aggressive marketing to unsuspecting authors, fictional editorial boards, little or no peer review, unqualified reviewers, and generally poor editorial quality are issues that plague the journal publishing landscape.

Why are predatory journals not allowed in research?

Predatory Journals take advantage of authors by asking them to publish for a fee without providing peer-review or editing services. Because predatory publishers do not follow the proper academic standards for publishing, they usually offer a quick turnaround on publishing a manuscript.